A dry mouth is often associated with medication, particularly heart drugs. Dry mouth is also the result of oral surgery for a malignancy, especially involving an X-Ray treatment. It may be caused by chronic sinusitis and its attendant post-nasal drip. Furthermore it is a common complaint of no known etiology of elderly individuals.
The persistence of a dry mouth at night can disturb sleep causing the individual suffering from it to waken frequently, even every hour. Furthermore peridontal disease and increased tooth decay as well as loss of teeth can be a result of xerostomia.
Current treatment has consisted of room humidifiers, and drugs, chiefly pilocarpine. Also patients with dry mouth are advised to drink water, rinse their mouth with fluids such as mouth wash, chew gum or suck hard candy. These latter suggestions of course can only be followed when the patient is awake and are impossible to perform when asleep. Room humidifiers and drugs have unfortunately proven largely ineffective.